Hi everyone

My husband and I plus two small children are looking to move to spain within 3 years.

Our main reason for moving is that my husband suffers from s.a.d.s. and so we want to go somewhere with more year round sunshine and so we are looking at Andalucia.We know we want to be less than an hour from an airport, be within reach of an international school and be no further than a half hours drive from the coast

we are coming out to spain in May to start looking around and will be staying in Nerja this time

can anyone suggest any areas that fit the above?

thanks for any help in advance

jo

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Hello Jo,

Have a look at the Mojacar area in Almeria - it has the most hours of sunshine in mainland europe and is the driest place in mainland europe - there is an international school opening in Vera Playa upto 18 years old in Sept this year and prices for property are better than most other costas - as well as being perhaps a bit more spanish if you want it to be. 1/2 hour from coast will include Mojacar, Vera, Turre, Villaricos, Arboleas, Huercal Overa and many more depending on what you want around you.

It is very nice here and you should have a look. Another area is Murcia - with an international school opening near the Mar Menor. Trouble is this is a treck from Nerja and is not as "pretty" an area as Mojacar.

Good luck with your search!

Jamie

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Hi Kicker,

The coast of Granada ticks all the boxes.  Almunecar, which is a lovely coastal village/town  in particular is half an hour's drive from Malaga airport and 45 mins from Granada airport.  It has an international school and enjoys one of the best climate in Spain.  This area is also known as Costa Tropical due to its microclimate.  Salobrena is only 5 minutes drive from Almunecar and slightly quieter in low season.    Unfortunately, due to the recent completion of the motorway and Ryanair's flights to Granada, prices in the area are rising fast.

I hope this is of some help to you.

Sabber

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Hi Jo:

If I were you, I'd move to Motril. It's got the biggest beach in Granada, you've got an international school in Almuñécar (only 19km from Motril), it's genuinely Spanish, Granada airport is quite near, it's cheaper than Nerja, you can see Sierra Nevada and its snowy peaks while you're having a drink on the beach, people are really friendly, it's starting to attract a more relaxed kind of tourism than other areas in Spain (golf resorts, no seafronts full of discos and pubs with everything written in English), etc.

Have a look!

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Hi,

I have live in Estepona for 20 yrs, so I can tell you a little about the area west of Marbella to help you to build up a bigger picture of Andalusia.

The Estepona area is 45min from Malaga AP and 30 min from Gibraltar AP.

Estepona is a wonderful old town with an attractive port where you’ll receive a warm welcome. It has spacious beaches. Behind Estepona there are beautiful mountain villages to learn about.

You will be close to Puerto Banus and Marbella, which has a wonderful old town.

Our nearest town is San Pedro, which is lovely too!

There are so many marvellous places in Andalucia, you’r54ev going to have so much fun exploring them all!

Andalucia a great place to live!

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Hi Kicker,

I´m Spanish. I live in Málaga town.

Many places in the province could fit your needs, but we would need to know more clearly about this:

1- The temperature is not the same in all the province. While staying 15 kms inland can be very hot in summer, on the coast can be quite fine, especially in the evenings. Even depending on which coastal area you stay, climate may be better or worse (I talk about  "too hot" in summer.

2- You like Spanish or British area? I mean, do you want to be near british amenities, bars, etc. or you want to be away from it? There are interesting places where you can have both, which may be convenient. You are in "Spain" but in 15 minutes drive you can related with british community and services.

3- Choose be near to an important international airport, like Málaga airport, for instance. Come what may with low cost airlines in the future, an important airport will always give you choice for sure of a conection with the U.K

4- If you have Spanish friends or British friends already living here who understand Spanish, they can help you search in local internet real estate sites, ads of properties for sale directly by the owner (Spanish or British). You can find very interesting prices if you look for properly. Is better than going to any Spanish or British real estate company. Then to feel secure, ask legal advice (Spanish or British), there are good and bad ones in both cases, like in everything :-)

As a general rule, you´ll find the western coast of the province more "over-developped" but with more services and the other wayround on the eastern coast and inland, but this can vary looking more specifically by towns. All together, following the conditions you say you need, I would consider areas from Calahonda in the west to Nerja in the East and the area of Valle del Guadalhorce, which is nice, well connected and to a certain degree, still unspoilt.

Good luck 

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Before we had decided exactly where to live in Spain, we bought an old camper and spent several weeks finding out about different areas.

We eventually found a busy pub set in the midst of communal gardens at La Cala de Mijas. We bought both the pub and the accommodation. 2 years later we sold it and opened a restaurant in Estepona, where we have lived for 20 years.

We never regretted our 6 weeks exploring Andalucia in the camper before coming to a decision.

Another common method is to rent a place to live, whilst you have a good look around, before buying.

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